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I wrote these (they were originally emails) for someone I know who had some strange things going on with their computer that we couldn't figure out what they were.
I would suggest a few things:
1) If you run windows, go to windowsupdate.com. Follow the instructions to get the latest updates. Do this once a month.
Why: every few months someone discovers a new security flaw in Windows (a security flaw is roughly equivalent to accidentally leaving a ground-level window open in your house when you leave for vacation -- i.e. anyone can climb right in). Then Microsoft develops an update to fix the flaw. But if you don't go there and install the updates periodically, your computer won't get fixed. Then viruses, etc can exploit the flaws.
2) Run the antivirus scanner again. If it finds anything, sometimes it can be a good idea to run it again to see if it finds something new after you deal with the first one.
3) Remove malware on your computer. I've heard of a program here that does this:
Why: Sometimes when you install one program, it installs another program without your knowledge. The other program typically does things like pop up advertisments on its own, or alter web pages to insert its own advertisments, or spy on your web browsing and report which pages you visit to some company, or sometimes run computations in the background for another company (at the cost of slowing down your computer). I consider this almost as bad as hacking into someone's computer w/o their permission, but usually it is considered legal as they mention it somewhere in the fine print of the software license agreement (which is why I often read those completely through when I install software). These hidden other programs are called "malware", and depending on what they do, they're called spyware, adware, etc.
The spyware programs are hard to remove since their purpose is not to help you, but to make money for someone else. Also, they often cause weird errors or system crashes, just like viruses can. So it's good to keep them off. Some popular programs are known to covertly install malware; for instance, Kazaa does.
The best solution is never to install or run a program without reading the license agreement completely, unless you really trust the company providing it. Luckily, people such as Lavasoft make anti-malware programs which try to fight off the malware the same way that anti-virus programs fight off viruses. Just like with viruses, the malware programmers are constantly improving their malware to resist attack, and sometimes the malware even covertly disables the anti-malware programs. But it's better than nothing. So try the lavasoft programs.
(and as always, remember never to run email attachments unless you are absolutely sure they don't contain trojan horses or viruses)
it's always hard to tell.
it sounds like your system has a lot of weird stuff going on. The best thing to do, when you have time, is to totally back up every file on the system, and then back up all the data on the system so that you can reinstall it real easily, and then reformat and reinstall Windows (if you're running Windows). DON'T run any programs off your backups, just copy the DOCUMENTS. Then reinstall all of your programs
Then you'll start again with a clean slate, as if you just bought the computer.
The backing up can be a pain. The reinstallation and moving document files sounds hard to do, but it's not really much worse than if you bought a new computer.
If I were you, I would do this. As I said, it sounds like there is a lot of weird stuff on your computer.
